With The Dark Gospel finished, you would be forgiven for thinking that that is the end of the story. However, if you've followed my work since the short-lived Halo Slipping series published through the late James Redington's Portent Comics, you'll realise that I am unable to let go of Halo and her world. It should then come as no surprise to learn that The Dark Gospel will be swiftly followed by Hellhound, a one-off short story featuring the half-angel Halo Slipping. Beyond this, more stories based in Golgotha City will follow including Flashback, the origin of Goulding, The Wrath of God, concerning a vigilante serial killer, and The Last Precinct, the final denouement.

With this in mind, I have decided to write a thread on this forum (with Terry Martin's permission of course) that will bring late arrivals up to speed on the plot. For The Dark Gospel, I wrote brief recaps whilst simultaneously attempting to give each episode its own arc so that they could be read in isolation or as part of the larger plot. However, The Last Precinct is less forgiving than the Halo/Goulding episodes that preceed it as it pulls together plot threads from these earlier arcs. That is why I will be periodically adding up-to-date plot synopses to this thread when new stories are published. This way new readers will be able to keep up with events as they unfold.

I will post the first update to coincide with the release of issue 6 of Murky Depths. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the title of this thread, A Glimpse of Hell, is the banner beneath which all of my Golgotha tales will fall. This won't mean much now, but when the first graphic novel collection is released all will become clear.

Luke  

--Last edited by luke on 2008-09-03 21:54:38 --

I like that idea, Luke.

In addition to the usual Murky Depths duties, I have volunteered to work on a Holly Demonica cartoon-style online strip for the website. This will consist of single page episodes roughly on a monthly basis. I am also beginning to plan a one-shot comic, once again featuring Halo Slipping, that will focus on a group of scientists whose gruesome experiments are inspired by Dr. Josef Mengele's work at Auschwitz. Should be nasty stuff.

Luke

Want to see a larger version of the teaser image for the Holly Demonica strip? Okay.



Luke

I'm very pleased with how Hellhound came out in Murky Depths #6. Apologies for the full-frontal male nudity, but after having Halo slink around in panties in the final part of The Dark Gospel I figured it was only fair.

What do you all think of the Holly Demonica online strip?

Luke

The third part of the Holly Demonica online strip will appear soon. Don't know how popular it's been. It's hardly my usual style, but then I started my comic 'career' working on Portent's Rob and Ducky, another cartoon-based strip.

Flashback has just appeared in the glorious 7th issue of Murky Depths. Like Hellhound, the previous offering, it is a one-off story but still has connections to the larger plot. Hellhound showed how Goulding and Halo's relationship has evolved whilst simultaneously being a fun little action/horror tale in its own right. Similarly, Flashback is a vampire story which looks at vampirism as a variation on drug addiction but it also shows the origin of the Goulding character.

As shown in the 'teaser' image in MD #7, the next story arc will be The Wrath of God. This will be a two-parter featuring Goulding and Halo and returns to the supernatural crime roots of The Dark Gospel. When a spate of vigilante killings begin in Golgotha City, the case becomes all too personal for Goulding and his half-angel girlfriend.

I am now just over a third of the way through Mengele's Brain, the first full colour Halo Slipping comic. It is looking good. Very good. I can't wait for you all to see it.

Luke  

--Last edited by luke on 2009-02-04 20:04:44 --

I was listening to some music the other day and was reminded where the name of my character Halo Slipping came from. The song was Noose by a band called A Perfect Circle and, during the powerful final crescendo, the line "With your halo slipping down to choke you now" is sung. Funny where inspiration comes from.

I suppose, with the Wrath of God two-parter looming, I should write an update as I promised at the beginning of this thread.

Here goes:

The Dark Gospel: Tin-Man
Goulding, a detective who has become obsessed with cases relating to the occult since his heart transplant, is called in to investigate the brutal murder of a priest. The only witness to the crime is the dead priest himself or at least his severed head. Goulding uses his snitch, the cute but sinister emo-demon Holly Demonica, to 'read' what happened from the head and discovers that a book, the infamous Dark Gospel, was stolen from the crime-scene. Goulding correctly deduces that his partner Mason was the killer from details in Holly's vision and confronts him. But the book, written by Satan himself, gives Mason an unholy power and it is only by shooting the book that goulding is able to take down his former partner. Upon being accused of stealing the book from hell, Holly urges Goulding to burn it but temptation proves too much and he reads it instead. Now Goulding knows what no human should; that God doesn't care about humanity.

The Dark Gospel: Satan Rising
Satan, using the body of a serial killer called Midwinter as a vessel, rises to earth to reclaim his book. Meanwhile, Goulding is aware that he is being followed all over Golgotha City by a strange girl. She is Halo Slipping and she claims to be an angel. Goulding reprimands her and leaves her to follow up on a lead he received from Midwinter before he chewed open his own wrist. It leads him to a church and into a trap. Satan, wearing Midwinter's form, stands before the altar. Goulding is too smart to fall for the obvious ambush and blasts two demon-imps out of the air as they leap at him from the pews behind. Satan, however, proves impervious to Goulding's bullets and sends a fireball his way. Halo appears, already at the church for her own reasons, and hurls a bottle of something alcoholic. This sends a pillar of flame back at Satan. Halo opens a pair of white wings to shield Goulding from the blaze proving that she is indeed an angel. Satan watches them escape, somehow safe from the fire, and vows revenge.

The Dark Gospel: Halo Slipping
How does Goulding repay Halo for saving his life? He arrests her and is bombarded by distinctly unangelic language for it. When Goulding pops out for coffee, Halo sweet-talks Wilson, a rather less intelligent detective, into letting her go. She embarks on her own quest and breaks into an abandoned mental hospital. Goulding has to act quickly and uses what little he knows about the mysterious girl to work out her next move. Meanwhile, Halo is attacked by zombie-like creatures, former patients bound to the hospital. Goulding arrives in time to put down a zombie-doctor before Halo is cleaved. However his gun can't stop the advancing horde and it is up to Halo to use her angelic powers to release the creatures' trapped souls. With the danger over, Halo is visited by the ghost of her mother, a patient who died in the hospital. Halo is a Nephilim, half angel and half human. Her mother has hidden the archangel Michael's sword in her grave. Is Michael Halo's father? They dig up the weapon to use against Satan. Elsewhere, Satan sends Holly back to hell for her crimes and a figure dressed in the black garb of Mason, the corrupt cop who was apparently killed in Tin-Man, is interrogating a demon.

The Dark Gospel: Conclusion
The same dark Mason-like figure binds and gags Halo to prevent her from going up against Satan. It is Goulding, using the appearance of his devil-worshipping ex-partner and the Dark Gospel to get close to Satan. It does not work and a bloody battle begins between Goulding, Satan and some demon cannon fodder. Goulding succeeds in hacking off Satan's hand with the sword of Archangel Michael to stop him from taking the Dark Gospel, but is sent flying with a single punch. Now Satan has the book once more. A volley of bullets rain down on Satan. It is Halo armed with Goulding's guns. She leaps down from a rooftop, using her wings to slow her descent, still blazing away. Pausing only to snarl at Goulding, she snatches up the sword and stabs it through Satan's open mouth, pinning him to a wall. He burns in the holy fire taking the book with him. Halo, grumpy that the Dark Gospel has been destroyed, drags Goulding home. Grateful, he kisses her and they end up spending the night together, finally acknowledging the attraction between them. Goulding dreams of the incident that led to his need for a heart transplant. Halo is sympaphetic but seems to know more than she is letting on.

Hellhound
Halo, trying to go on her first proper date with Goulding, is being hunted by a Hellhound through the alleys of Golgotha. She finds herself in a large chamber and is soon face to face with an apocalypse cult. They want to kill her for daring to halt the world's end. The hellhound is being controlled by a warlock and was used to herd her towards the cultists. When it looks as though they have Halo overpowered, she reaches into her bag which erupts with gunfire, taking out a cultist. Goulding has insisted that Halo carries a gun and she has got herself the biggest handgun she can find. A firefight begins, with Halo using her wings to stay in the air for an impossibly long time as she exchanges gunfire with the cult. In the end, she emerges victorious, her last burst dropping a huge cultist with a heavy machine-gun. His death-twitch sends a final eruption of gunfire towards the warlock. Seeing this, Halo leaps into the air to hug a pillar high off the ground. Without the warlock to control it, the hellhound bounds into the chamber and mauls the robed cult leader. Halo drops down before the hellhound and bluffs the creature into believing that she is too powerful to be trifled with. To her relief, it drifts apart like smoke.

Flashback
Goulding recalls the events that led up to his heart transplant back when he was a corrupt narc partnered with Eddie 'Prozac'. When shaking down a small-time drug dealer known as Weasel, they discover his new product is in fact demon blood drained directly from the source. A gang appears from nowhere, one powering towards them on a forklift, guns blazing. Prozac is shot and wounded and Goulding is forced to find cover. Eventually, they defeat the gang, but Weasel injects himself with the demon blood and becomes unstoppable. He stabs Goulding with two syringes, an overdose of the blood, before retreating from a volley of gunfire from Prozac. Goulding is taken to hospital and believes he sees an angel watching over him during his transplant. Does it look like Halo? In actuality, it is an angel's heart that now beats in his chest. That is how he recovers so quickly and why he has become obsessed with the occult. Released from hospital, Goulding tracks down Weasel, now acting like a vampire after his dose of demon blood. Goulding rams a stake through his heart, also influenced by the vampire myth. The new Goulding is born.

Hope that helps.

Luke  

--Last edited by luke on 2009-03-05 11:42:59 --

I just received my copy of the new Holly Demonica book. It is called Furnace and looks beautiful. It's been a while since a wrote something that was suitable for all ages and, I have to say, I have really enjoyed my return to a cartoony style of art.

Luke  

--Last edited by luke on 2009-05-04 19:17:00 --

To Luke Perry:Loved THE WRATH OF GOD in issue#8.Can't wait to read following episode...You will not ACTUALLY kill Halo I hope? Thanks for your stories anyway, they are great!

Oh, I'd love to read HOLY DEMONICA. I will find it somewhere...

Holly Demonica is well worth a read. I am currently working on a new story that will re-introduce her to the pages of Murky Depths.

Have I got the stones to kill off Halo Slipping? Time will tell...

Thanks for your comments, Gillian. I love hearing from readers.

Luke Cooper
(I think Luke Perry was the guy from Beverly Hills 90210)

Oh, God, my apologies for the mistake.My brain is in sieves sometimes.But you KNOW that the comments were for you.
The guy in Beverly Hills has nothing to do with demons...AND he doesn't know about Halo. I understand that you can not say anything either.It would ruin the suspense.
I can't wait to read Holly Demonica.
Apologies again.I think that you know that the message was clearly for YOU.
Thank you again for your wonderful work.

I think Tru Calling was as close as Perry got to horror.

I did used to get called Lucas Buck after the evil Sheriff from American Gothic. That has to be my favourite Luke-a-like.

The fact that you know and like my characters is the most important thing, Gillian. Halo, Goulding and Holly are the stars, not this thirty-something kid who refuses to grow up.

I can't give away the ending of this first collection of stories but I will say; Heaven and Hell, bitterness, the origin of Holly Demonica, the Soul Engine and a lot of cruel manipulation.

It will all make sense... Probably.

Luke

"The origin of Holly Demonica"- "bitterness"...I have some idea. I am sure it is the wrong one.
A pity I can't bet a pint with you to see if I am right.
Thanks for accepting my apologies anyway.I will send you comments at the next issue.

As you may know, I have a comic coming out soon called Halo Slipping: Mengele's Brain. Well, it was during my research for this story, which touches upon elements of the Holocaust, that I decided that I had to visit Auschwitz. I recently had the opportunity to do so. I wonder now if I would have still written Mengele's brain if I had gone to Auschwitz first.

The experience was intense and deeply upsetting. Birkenau was particulary distressing, the sheer size of the place. It took three hours to walk the grounds. In Auschwitz, the smaller camp, I saw inside one of the gas chambers. It hit me hard.

Mnegel's Brain was always seen as an exploitation horror so there are no grand statements, other than the obvious, hidden in the subtext. Still, I would like to say that no offence was meant if any is caused and take the opportunity to correct one or two small errors.

Mengele's research was largely performed on Romani gypsies and Birkenau gate is shown from the wrong side as I was working from a Google image. Also, obviously the gas wasn't green, but it is a comic contrivance to use green to symbolise poison. These mistakes don't effect the story but I feel it is important to show that I have respect for the subject matter.

Luke